It is particularly important to note that even if an enterprise is held administratively or criminally liable, laws and regulations provide opportunities for correction, as follows:
1. Self-examination and self-correction
If a tax-related violation is disclosed to the customs within six months from the date of occurrence, no administrative penalty will be imposed; if the customs actively confesses that the violation has not yet been discovered, the administrative penalty will be mitigated or reduced.
2. Pleading guilty
The system of lenient treatment for confession and acceptance of guilt refers to a system in which criminal suspects and defendants voluntarily confess their crimes truthfully, have no objection to the alleged criminal facts, agree to the sentencing recommendations of the People’s Procuratorate and sign a written undertaking, and can be handled in a simplified manner in accordance with the law and leniently in substance.
The system of lenient treatment for confession and acceptance of guilt exists in the entire litigation process from investigation, review and approval of arrest, review and prosecution to trial, involving the choice of confession and acceptance of guilt at the investigation stage, sentencing negotiation at the review and prosecution stage, and voluntary and legal review and simplified trial at the trial stage.
Article 120, paragraph 2 of the revised Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that when interrogating criminal suspects, investigators shall inform the criminal suspects of the legal provisions on confession and acceptance of guilt; Article 162, paragraph 2 stipulates that for cases where the investigation has been concluded, if the criminal suspect voluntarily confesses guilt, it shall be recorded and transferred with the case, and the relevant circumstances shall be stated in the prosecution opinion.
In the implementation of the confession and acceptance of guilt and leniency system, many places have implemented the principle of decreasing sentencing incentives, that is, the later the criminal suspect or defendant confesses guilt and accepts punishment, the smaller the leniency. Voluntary confession of guilt during the investigation stage can bring the greatest benefits to the criminal suspect, and it can also achieve twice the result with half the effort in collecting evidence and ascertaining the facts of the crime.
Article 174 of the revised Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that when the People’s Procuratorate reviews a case, if the criminal suspect voluntarily pleads guilty and agrees to the sentencing recommendations and applicable procedures, he shall sign a confession and plea agreement in the presence of the defense counsel or duty lawyer; Article 201 stipulates that for confession and plea cases, when the People’s Court makes a judgment in accordance with the law, it shall generally adopt the charges and sentencing recommendations of the People’s Procuratorate, that is, the criminal suspect signs the confession and plea agreement during the prosecution review stage of the procuratorate, and the court shall generally adopt the opinions of the procuratorate.
This ensures the continuity of the confession and plea system at different stages of the litigation, and gives criminal suspects a reassurance to confess as soon as possible.